Dang, I'm A Great Paper Trader

[Arnie Guitar]

No, I know it's not real.
I take huge one sided positions, no balance... Absotutely fearless.
Always bull put credit spreads, WAY out of the money... Haven't lost yet.
Karen Supertrader's kinda stuff.

My real account? Big chicken..,

It's gotta be because it ain't my money, real money, that's all I can figure.

 

[romik]

Fear of loss.

That's what overcommiting does to one's brain unfortunately whenever you experience a drawdown. One way to deal with it is to be ready to lose multiple times before getting into black. Another one way is to scale out, not ideal, but it's good way to increase win ratio.

 

[i960]

There's fear of loss conflated with fear of being wrong and then there's legitimate fear of loss based on bets that will work out only as long as everything stays lined up but a little voice is telling you "maybe this is too easy." Perhaps you should heed the fear in this case and find plays that won't wipe you out of they go wrong. I bet even Soros left some breathing room when making a big bet on the pound.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

Fear of loss.

Trading can be tough -- the psychological aspect of it can be a huge barrier to success/loss.
Kind of like being a faithless preacher. Talent is nothing if you're not confident.

Either way, anyways...i say just jump in -- with real money, now.
you won't regret taking action in life. ...there's so much more to gain, than lose.

 

[BSAM]

Brother Lawrence, I like the first two lines you write here.
But, I'm not so sure about the last two lines.

 

[BSAM]

If he does just "jump in", he still won't be confident.

 

[lawrence-lugar]

If he does just "jump in", he still won't be confident.

I somewhat disagree with that -- Confidence comes partially from experience. So for better or worse right now, you need to jump in ops: -- and Learn quickly.

 

[Arnie Guitar]

I do trade...a lot....
But much safer positions with big cushions.

 

[BSAM]

I somewhat disagree with that -- Confidence comes partially from experience. So for better or worse right now, you need to jump in ops: -- and Learn quickly.

Hmmm....I don't think it usually works well that way.

But, be that as it may, let's look at the title of the thread:
Dang, I'm A Great Paper Trader

So, brother Arnie already sees with his eyes that what he has learned is working.
So, he's got that part down.
But, the hard part for him, is getting his brain to believe it!
So, I'm thinking that the way for Arnie to bring himself to a new level is to "play a trick on his brain".

I wonder what would happen if he stopped all real money trading and only paper traded for about 2 to 3 months, everyday, until his confidence level is so high that he forces his brain to understand that there is no need for him to think that he can't bring himself to the next level.
In other words, he needs to beat himself up in a positive manner such that he fully understands what he probably suspected all along: That his fear of losses was all "in his head".

Hmmm...Wonder if that would work?

Arnie, going by what you say, you're already a great trader.
Funny thing is; YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT!

 

[i960]

Tellin 'ya man, "sure thing" gimmicky trades are just waiting to get punched in the face hard. Karen supertrader is an aberration with great timing. I wouldn't be getting into that type of thing in the current climate.